This invention relates to a suction housing of a lubricating-oil pump inserted into the lubricating-oil storage tank of vehicles having a distributing regulator that is guided in the suction housing and suction openings which are controlled by valves such that the suction opening that faces away from the moving direction of the distributing regulator can be closed to prevent air intake.
A suction housing of the above-mentioned type is described in German Published unexamined Application (DE-OS) No. 233 97 30. Accordingly, by means of a distributing regulator having a mass, a suction opening located in the direction of the acceleration affecting a vehicle is closed in order to prevent an intake of air to the oil pump. However, the problem occurs that, because of their design, the valves arranged at the ends of the guiding part of the distributing regulator cannot ensure perfect sealing, mainly with respect to the penetration of air, without a special and thus costly perfecting of the valve seats at the suction housing. In addition, the design of the valves according to the above-mentioned German Application requires a large overall height, resulting in the fact that the suction openings that can be closed by the valves cannot lie deep enough in the oilpan. For this reason, separate additional spaces are also provided into which one intake connection leads and through which the lubricating oil, via a suction pipe, is sucked from more deeply located areas of the lubricating-oil tank. This then has the result that in the case of defect in a valve, this valve cannot simply be removed but the complete device must be replaced. Moreover, an oil filter arranged above the device results in such large dimensions that a use in an automatic transmission is inconceivable.
Due to the fact that almost the whole mass of the distributing regulator is combined in the two valves mounted on it, the distributing regulator must be guided very narrowly in order to prevent a tilting when the play is too large because of its small diameter. However, a disadvantage of this arrangement is that this narrow guiding increases the friction resistance, resulting in the expectance of a poor response of the distributing regulator when accelerations occur.
It is an objective of the invention to improve the suction housing known from the above-mentioned German Application in such a way that a low overall height is obtained and the valves mounted at the distributing regulator, without any special perfecting of the valve seats, ensure a perfect sealing, especially with respect to the air intake in the suction housing.
This objective is achieved according to the invention by developing the distributing regulator to be plate-shaped and by movably suspending the valves at their sides facing the suction openings.
The plate-shaped construction of the distributing regulator permits an extremely flat design so that separate additional spaces and intake pipes leading into them for the picking-up of deeper oil layers are not necessary. Thus, a defective valve can be exchanged without problems and without having to replace the whole device. Another advantage of this flat design is that the device is especially well-suited for use in automatic transmissions.
The movable suspension of the valves and the seals, that are injection-molded onto the closing plates of the valves, ensure a perfect sealing of the suction openings without requiring a special perfecting of the valve seats.
According to preferred embodiments of the invention, the valves consist of a closing plate with a two-pronged radially biased bolt fastened to its. The bolt can be pressed together and be inserted through the suction opening into a T-shaped recess in the housing. Due to this construction, in the case of a development according to Claim 2, a defective valve can simply be pulled out of the receiving opening in the distributing regulator and be exchanged.
The slot-shaped development of the suction openings ensures a largest possible inlet cross-section with a low overall height.
By the guiding of the distributing regulator in a shallow groove with a distributing regulator that is equipped with a sliding layer in the direction of the underside, a response of the distributing regulator is achieved even in the case of low accelerations. In this case, a development of the sliding layer in the form of Teflon naps has the effect that the distributing regulator already starts moving at an angle of slope of the suction housing of about 2.degree..
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.